Playing Cupid
by romionefan4eva
Summary: Fourteen months after the war, George is trying to balance normal life while mourn over Fred. Ginny decides what George needs is a girl. But will George hit it off with any of the 'personalities' from the Harpies that Ginny sets him up with? Eventual George/Angelina
1. Chapter 1

Ginny Weasley had five older brothers. Five _protective _older brothers. Ginny always worried what would happen when she became seriously interested in boys. Could boys be scared off for fear that they'd have to go through all her brothers to get to Ginny?

But, by the time she was ready for a boyfriend, she only had three protectors. Bill and Charlie were too far out of Hogwarts to even be aware of Ginny's romantic life. Percy was out of Hogwarts, and out of her family's life, for that matter.

So that left her with three: Fred, George, and Ron. Ron was the youngest of her brothers, and only a year older than Ginny. Because he was often pushed aside by his older brothers for being the youngest, or at least by Fred and George, he was always trying to prove his dominance over Ginny. He treated her like a baby, and seemingly forgot she was only a year younger than her. That's why Fred and George were often considered her favorite siblings, if she had to choose.

Fred and George looked out for Ginny. When she began dating Michael Corner, they demanded to meet him, but did not embarrass her like Ron would've done. _"I did give him a rather intimidating handshake, though." _Fred had said proudly. When Cho was lingering after D.A. practice, and Harry was eagerly going over to talk to her, the twins saw the jealousy in Ginny's eye, even though she had a boyfriend. They decided to show off some of their new products to Harry in attempts to distract him from Cho. It did not work, but it had been worth a shot. When Ginny began to date Harry, George cheered in delight and said, _"I knew it! You owe me a galleon!" _When Ginny looked questioningly at him, George explained that he bet that Harry and Ginny would get together before Ron and Hermione. Fred and George attempted to give Harry the 'scary big brother talk' but the three of them only ended up laughing. The twins ended with one request,_ "Just take care of her, okay?"_

But after the war, things changed. Harry and Ginny could have eloped, and the lonely George Weasley would have thought nothing of it. He was too busy wallowing in his self-pity and mourning, even fourteen months after the war. He was doing better, Ginny could say fairly. He had reopened the shop with Ron, which was doing quite well. He had formed a very nice friendship with Ron. And sometimes a smile even cracked upon his face, or he'd mutter a few jokes, and when everyone laughed, he'd smile in surprise, unaware that George Weasley could be so funny by himself.

But George wasn't whole again. Ginny knew he'd never be, but still, she wanyed him to be as whole as he could be without Fred. The problem was, when George had free time, he would look forward to hanging out with Ron, who was often busy with Hermione. If he was buys, he'd turn to Ginny, who was often busy with Harry, or the four of them were double dating. Poor George was out of it. This led Ginny to the conclusion. George Weasley needed a girl. And now, the protected was going to become the protector, and make it her mission to find him one.

"Hey, Georgie." Ginny said sweetly, taking a seat next to him at the Burrow.

"What do you want, Gin?" George said absentmindedly as he read his _Daily Prophet_.

"Who said I wanted anything?" She said innocently.

"When you call me Georgie, it's either a term of affection or to get on my good side because you want something. Today, I'm guessing it's the latter." George said casually.

Ginny bit her lip. "I was wondering what you're doing tomorrow."

"Saturday night? Nothing. I got Ron running the shop tomorrow night, because it's him and Hermione's 'fourthteenmonthaverysary.' Any bloke who uses that word in a sentence should be punished; therefore, he will not be celebrating." He scoffed, and Ginny laughed.

"Good. You're going on a date." She said promptly.

"What?!" He yelped.

"Yes, I scheduled it with a girl on my Quidditch team." Ginny had recently joined the HolyHead Harpies.

"Ginny, I don't need your pity dates. I'm just fine alone; you don't have to feel the need to find me a woman." George said bitterly.

"George, you were a womanizer at Hogwarts! Now you're twenty-one, in your prime years of dating! You should be with a different woman every night!" Ginny pleaded.

"Glad to see where your priorities are." George said brightly. "If Mum heard a word of that, we'd both be smacked on the backside of our heads."

"What I mean is, you can get _plenty _of girls, and now is the best time!"

"Yes, well, I'm not quite a normal twenty-one year old, am I?" He said wisely, trying to keep depressing thoughts of Fred out of his mind.

"You haven't been on a date since Fred's death, and I know he'd be ashamed! He'd _want_ you to do this." Ginny said convincingly.

"He'd want the girl for himself, that's what he'd want." George joked.

"No!" She snapped.

"So she's ugly? Because Fred would never pass down a pretty woman." George concluded. "First rule of my dating: I don't go out with ugly women. C'mon, Gin, you should know that by now."

"I got you one of the prettiest girls on the team." Ginny sighed, rolling her eyes. "Fred wouldn't go on this date because he'd want you too."

"I'm scared, Gin." George confessed. "I've never been on a first date without him. I mean, when things got serious with a girl, I could go alone, but at least for the first one, we always doubled, because we worked well off each other and it was easy to impress the girls."

"Would you like it if Harry and I came along?" She whispered, touched at her brother opening up.

George's face lit up. He was finally being invited into their dating world! "You'd do that?"

"Of course." Ginny smiled, giving her brother a hug.

"Thanks, Gin."

"No problem. I owe you one, Georgie." She said, using the nickname as a term of endearment this time. "Remember. Tomorrow. Three Broomsticks. Seven o'clock."

**Author's note: **_What do you think? It mostly just stages the story, but I promise next chapter George's dates will be humorous! Please review!_


	2. Chapter 2

George knocked on his sister's bedroom door.

"Come in!" She called.

George opened the door, and found Ginny and Hermione mulling through choices of outfits in her closet and laying them on the bed.

"Hey, Gin, quick question: tie or no tie?" George asked.

"It depends. Are you doing sweater or no sweater over the collared shirt?" Ginny said fairly.

George scoffed. "No sweater! It's the first date!"

"Then tie." She nodded.

"Okay, now which shirt?" He asked, and held out a selection to the girls.

"Don't you have something blue? It really brings out your eyes." Ginny cooed, pinching his cheek.

"Ew! Ginny, stop! And I never wear blue on the first date. It is my best color, and must be something the girl must have to work towards." He said cockily.

"Herman, what do you think looks best?" George asked when Hermione emerged out of the closet holding a dress for Ginny to wear.

"I told you not to call me that!" She said crossly, and Ginny giggled. "And I'm not answering that. I am upset you purposely scheduled Ron for tonight, so now we can't celebrate our fourteenmonthaversary."

George and Ginny exchanged glances. "Like I said, any bloke who uses that word in a sentence should be punished, and any girl too, for that matter. Therefore, you and Ron will not go out." When Hermione still didn't look satisfied, George said in an innocent voice, "It's my first date since Fred's died, and I just want to ensure the shop will be in good hands while I'm gone."

Hermione's face lit up. "You have a date? George, why didn't you say so?!"

"I did."

"Well say it louder, then!" Hermione said happily. "Oh, I think the red one, definitely, unless you have blue to bring out your eyes."

"That's what I said!" Ginny told her friend. "He looks very nice in blue."

"Oh, I'll bet! Ron looks fantastic in blue."

"Yeah, I'm leaving this conversation." George said, and sulked out of his sister's room.

/

"Do I look okay?" George said, fidgeting with his tie uncomfortably when he walked down the stairs.

"You look fine." Ginny said, fixing the tie herself.

"Yeah, don't be nervous, mate." Harry said bracingly.

"I'm not nervous!" He yelled.

_Lies. _It wasn't that he was nervous about meeting the girl; oh, he knew how to talk to girls, that was for sure. He was nervous that he was taking the next step forward into his life. One step into his life without Fred. Odds were, he wasn't going to marry this girl, and it was just a simple date to get him back on the playing field. But what if he did? What if he fell in love with her, but he would be forever wondering if she met Fred's approval?

"Oh, George, dear, you look so handsome!" His mother cried, breaking him from his train of thought with a bone-crushing hug.

"Mum! Geroff! You're embarrassing me!" George said, his ears soon turning the color of his hair.

"Oh, she's not even here! There's no reason to be embarrassed!" She said, pushing some of his hair back. "How about a picture?"

"Mum," George groaned.

"Ron would pay to see this!" Hermione giggled.

"Oh, please, you all look so darling!" She cooed to George, Ginny, and Harry.

"Yeah, a nice picture of a double date when I'm dateless." George said sarcastically.

"Ginny, why did you tell her to meet you at the restaurant? She could have come over here before!"

"Because I knew you'd pull a stunt like this, Mum." Ginny said darkly as she forced George and Ginny together to take a picture.

"Hermione, dear, will you please be so kind as to fill in as George's date?" Molly asked.

"Excuse me?" Hermione said.

"Just for the picture, so George doesn't look alone."

"So a picture for your scrapbook of Harry and Ginny double dating with me and my brother's girlfriend. That'll be a keeper, Mum." George jeered, as Molly put George's arm around Hermione's. "Okay! No! I was kidding, Mum! We're done here!"

"But, Georgie-"

"No date unless there's no photos." George said, crossing his arm.

"Fine." His mother pouted. "But when you marry this girl-"

"Which is highly unlikely-"

"Then you will be upset that there will be no photos to prove it-"

"Because a picture of Hermione and I would look so good on the wedding invitations." George finished cheekily, and Molly sighed before giving him a hug.

"I'm proud of you, okay?" She said. "And I just want you to remember girls will come and girls will go, but your mother will always be here for you."

"I know. I love you, Mum." George said before parting.

"Now, you best be off, you don't want to have-what's the girl's name, again?"

"Beats me." George shrugged.

"Karen." Ginny informed him. "Karen Criss."

"Sounds nice enough." George said easily.

With a bit more cooing from Molly, the young adults bid Molly adieu and apparated to the Three Broomsticks.

"What does this girl look like?" George asked as the three of them craned their necks around, looking for her.

"Blonde, blue eyes-"

"Ginny!" They heard a girl squeal, and Ginny went over to meet her friend.

"Karen, you remember Harry, right?"

"Pleasure." He said shaking her hand.

"Of course, how could I forget?!"

"And, Karen, this is my older brother, George." Ginny informed her, leading her over.

"How do you do?" George said politely with a smile, shaking her hand.

Ginny was right, she was pretty. Karen had long, shiny blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She had big, luscious red lips, glittering from her amble amounts of lip gloss. She gave him a bright smile.

"Ginny has told the team quite a lot about you." She said admirably.

"Has she now? Only good things, I hope." He laughed.

"Yes, don't worry." She responded.

George noted that Harry held out Ginny's chair for her, so George did the same for Karen.

"Wow, I can't believe you guys have the same hair color!" Karen said.

"Well, that often happens with siblings." George said cheekily, and Ginny glared.

"Oh, right, siblings, duh!" She giggled, and Harry gave George a bemused expression.

"So, Karen, besides Quidditch, what do you enjoy?" George asked.

"Cats."

"Excuse me?"

"I love cats. Any kind." She said excitedly.

"Interesting..." George said, and called to the waiter. "Can we have a round of butterbeers?"

He knew he'd have to drink up, because it was going to be a long night.


	3. Chapter 3

The date was one of the longest nights of George's life. Just when he thought Karen couldn't say anything more stupid or ridiculous, she seemed to top it, making George almost choked on his firewhiskey a couple of times.

"Well, this has been fun." George said as they walked out of the Three Broomsticks, "But boy am I tired!"

"I'm going to go to Harry's for a bit. Will you be alright on your own, Georgie?" Ginny teased.

"I'll be fine, _Mum."_ He retorted.

"Maybe you should walk Karen home, George?" Ginny suggested.

"Oh, I think she's perfectly fine-"

"My flat is only a couple blocks down." She piped up.

"Perfect!" Ginny and George said in unison, although Ginny lacked George's sarcasm.

The two couples parted ways. "Harry," Ginny said once they were out of earshot. "Can we please go back to the Burrow instead? I want to see how long George stays out."

"So you'll pretend you're at my house to see how long he lasts without knowing that you're waiting up for him?" He smirked. "You really are your mother's daughter."

George walked Karen home while she rambled, only stopping long enough for him to add a 'Mhhm-hmm' and 'I see' here and there.

"Well," She sighed, "This is it."

"Well, goodnight, Karen. I had a lovely-"

"Do you want to come inside?" She said, her fingers creeping up his arm.

"I, uh, I kinda got to get home-"

"Just for a minute-"

"No, really, my mother is probably worried sick-"

"Please." She said, and pouted, pursing her big lips out at him.

"Well, what's fifteen minutes here or there?"

"Excellent." Karen smiled, surprising him with a firm kiss on the mouth, and then pulling him by his tie inside.

"Pawn to E-4." Ginny yawned.

"Gin, can I go home yet?" Harry whined. "Knight to D-6."

"No! Not until George gets home! What is he's been attacked?"

"What if he's just having a bloody good time?"

"Ew, stop, Harry."

"I'm just saying, it's been almost-"

Just then, the door opened, and George walked in, with a dazed expression on his face.

"Where _HAVE YOU BEEN?!" _Ginny screamed, sounding just like her mother. It was no wonder George recoiled slightly.

"Gin, what the hell are you doing here, I thought you were at Harry's!"

"I came to ensure you walked Karen home and didn't ditch her. Seeing as it is an hour and a half since I last saw you, I can infer quite the opposite!" She spat.

"Actually, you can infer just from his appearance." Harry chuckled, and George glared at him.

George's hair was going in every direction, his shirt had several buttons unbuttoned, and his tie was loosened. His ears were red from embarrassment and he began to rub his neck sheepishly.

"Why are you rubbing your neck?" Ginny asked.

"Embarrassed habit."

"Don't you try to fool me! That was Fred's thing! You bite your tongue."

"Maybe I do both."

"Take your hand away from your neck."

"No."

"George Weasley, do you have a hickey?!" Ginny gasped.

"Psh, no!" George laughed weakly.

"You show me that hickey or I'll give you a bat bogey hex!" She said threateningly.

"Alright, alright!" George said, putting his hands up in surrender.

"George!" She gasped.

"Nice, mate." Harry laughed.

"It's not my fault, I swear!" George yelled. "She said 'do you want to come in?' I said no, she begged me, I agreed, and then from that point on she literally pounced on me!"

"So will there be a second date in the future?" Ginny asked.

"It's not likely." George said firmly.

"George, you can't go around snogging random women you have no intentions with!" Ginny shrieked.

"She came on to me, Ginny!" George pointed out. "And what am I supposed to do? Say, 'Hey, I know I haven't snogged anyone since my brother's wedding TWO YEARS AGO but I do not see a future with you, therefore I cannot do any bit of fooling around.' Would that be better?"

Just as Ginny yelled, "YES!" Harry simultaneously scoffed, "Of course not!"

Ginny glared at Harry. "I'll deal with you later." She said, half teasing, half intimidating. "So, George, tell me, why do you not want to see her again?"

"In all honestly, she's an _airhead. _I can't deal with stupid girls, Gin, you know that." George sighed.

"Oh, yes, because the Veela cousins at Fleur's wedding were all top scholars." She said sarcastically.

"Alright, fine, they probably didn't know my last name!" George admitted angrily. "So what?!"

"Know your last name?! Ha! They couldn't even spell your last name!" Ginny spat.

"Oh, you're so funny! Really, witty, Gin. I can hardly breathe from laughing." He said sardonically.

"Okay, that's enough." Harry said, getting up from the couch to break the two siblings apart. "What just happened? I've NEVER seen you two fight!"

"I don't like my brother throwing himself around with women on the first date like some _floozy_!" Ginny said grumpily, taking a seat on the couch.

"Floozy, Gin?" George scoffed. "You're really expanding your vocabulary. Nice use of words from the eighteenth century."

"Funny that you criticize Karen for being stupid but you can't keep up with my vocabulary." Ginny noted. "Would you like me to tone it down for you? Womanizer? Tool? Dou-"

"Enough!" Harry said. "Look, the only conclusion I can come to is that Ginny will never set George up on a date again."

"No! The siblings said in unison.

"Wait..." Ginny began

"You said-"

"You said-" And the two began to laugh.

"You criticize my date choice, but yet you want to go on another one?" Ginny asked lightly.

"Not another one with Karen, but another one, if you'll let me. You're right, Gin, I need to get back out on the playing field. Fooling around with Karen proved that. And I can see why you picked her for me; she's the kind of girl I would have gone for at Hogwarts. An attractive, slightly dumb blonde, who seems innocent but gets a little crazy when you're alone. But I'm older now. And I've matured a great deal ever since Fred...well, the fact of the matter is, I'm not looking to fool around, I'm looking for a serious, committed relationship." George said. "And if you'd know anyone else like that, I'd love to meet them, if you'll still let me. I'm sorry, Ginny."

"I'm sorry too." Ginny sighed. "I overreacted. I played the protective sibling card, which I had no right to do, especially since I'm your _little_ sister. But I don't know, ever since the war, I think we've all needed to look out for each other. But your life is your life. If you want to fool around with Karen, it's your decision. And I have to admit," Ginny blushed, and added in a quiet voice, "She was my first choice because I knew she'd easily give you a snog."

"There's a reason you're my favorite sister." George smiled.

"Hey! I'm your only sister!"

"Well, if I had more than one, you'd still be my favorite." He said. "And seriously, though, if you know any girls who are at least a _bit_ smarter than Karen, I'd be happy to meet them."

"I know just the girl." Ginny smiled brightly. "How about next Saturday?"


End file.
